Why Is Mame Failing To Launch Plus Other Issues.

[C64Crazy]

Ok thanks I'll try that next. If I still have an issue I'll try running Mame via dos to see if it reports any errors.

[Lordmonkus]

I've found the command line version of Mame the quickest and easiest to setup once you are used to the command line, it takes me all of a minute to setup a new install of Mame. And it's easier to troubleshoot.

[neil9000]

Yep, its also really easy through the general interface these days also, at least for paths and such.

[DOS76]

What are your PC specs I have a few older machines that I have to change the video driver like @Lordmonkus suggested but that shouldn't apply to a newer computer.

[C64Crazy]

It's a 2007 HP 64 bit computer but CPU has been replaced with a Intel Core2 2.4ghz Quad Core Q6400. 8 gigs of RAM. No PCIe cards other than one for USB 3.0 ports. Haven't tried what Lord said yet but will update when I do.

[DOS76]

Yeah most likely you will have to change the video settings in the .ini to get it to work.

[Lordmonkus]

I would suggest investing a few bucks into an older but cheap dedicated video card for it. Nothing special is needed at all but something with like say 1gig of DDR5 VRAM would go a long ways in making life easier and stuff run better. Launchbox will take advantage of it and it will allow you to use HLSL or BGFX shaders in Mame if that is something you would like.

[C64Crazy]

Sometime this year I'm going to build a new computer as I want to have all PCIe generation 3 slots (mine are only gen 2) and USB 3.1 ports. Then I'll add a video card. Or, can you recommend a card that will be ok on this but also good for the new computer as well? Something cheap but decent. I'm not really into the newer PC games but may play a few down the road. I'm mainly into 1980's arcade and Commodore 64 and Amiga stuff I grew up on. For some reason the modern "movie like" game just don't appeal to me. I know a video card is unneeded for the retro stuff but as said I'll dabble with a few modern games down the road.

Will update on the mame issue when I try the suggested fix.

[Lordmonkus]

If you are just looking for a card to throw in an older system for emulation then anything here on this page at Newegg will do for pcie 2.0 https://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=Property&N=100007709 50001402 50001312 50001315 50001561 50001314 50001669 50001419 50012150 50001471 600007541 600335272 600335568 600335271 600528884 600007610 600007600 600560925 4814 601186533&IsNodeId=1&cm_sp=Cat_video-Cards_4-_-Visnav-_-Value

If you are looking for something for a newer system to run the occasional modern PC game then something like an Nivida 1050 or 1050Ti will more than adequate for 1080p gaming. But when you are ready for that something new might be out that's the same price but better. It also depends on your budget.

[C64Crazy]

Thanks for the video card info.

Well, went to check the mame.ini file and it doesn't exist. I have Windows set to show all hidden files and extensions and looked in every mame folder. It's not there. So how do I create this file or does somebody have a copy they can link? And what folder should it be placed in? I'm obviously no expert on this stuff but it seems insane to me that mame doesn't include this file and won't even run without it. I tried downloading several versions of Mame to look for it, and even tried to run Mame to see if it would create it. Nope. Did a little searching on the web and others seemed to have been missing it too but the answers on how to create it assumed prior knowledge I don't have and were too vague in that respect.

Edited December 15, 2017 by C64Crazy

[Lordmonkus]

Default location is in the .ini folder and it should be there but with my guide that I linked to generating one right in the main Mame install folder where the .exe for Mame is the very first step I cover.

Basically to generate one you run the mame executable with the command line parameter -cc

mame64.exe -cc

 

[C64Crazy]

I looked in the ini folder and it wasn't there. So when I do the command line what's the next step after it's created? Should I use notepad to edit it and what defaults should be in it? If this is all covered in your tutorial I'll look there. I was planning to watch it after I got mame going to garner any info on screen aspect and other settings. I've setup name before in retropie but should delve more into it's deeper settings.

Edit: I'll watch that tutorial first and see if my ini questions are answered on what to do next and what to put in it.

Edited December 16, 2017 by C64Crazy

[Lordmonkus]

My tutorial is a written one and yeah you should use either notepad or notepad++ which is what I use.

For the most part the defaults in Mame are pretty good, you only need to change a couple of things in the ini file like your rom path and turn on any shaders you like. I cover the basics in my guide.

[C64Crazy]

I followed your mame tutorial instructions on how to create the mame ini file by creating a shortcut to the mame.exe and copying that in properties, and then pasting it into the command prompt and putting a space then -cc after it. Pressed enter and nothing happened. I then went to file explorer to see if the file exists now but nope. What am I doing wrong?

[neil9000]

You need to right click your MAME.exe and choose create shortcut, then right click the newly created shortcut and go to properties then in the "Target" line add the space then -cc to the end of it and click apply and then OK. Then just double click the shortcut and it will create the ini for you.

 

[C64Crazy]

That worked! But not at first. Saw the in file was created, but when I tried to run Mame.exe it did same thing... Small window quickly opens and closes. So I opened the ini file using notepad to do what you guys suggested before... Change video setting to ddraw. It was set to auto. Now mame lauches! Thanks!

But question, the only place I saw video listed was under OSD VIDEO OPTIONS, but I see there are other headers that say things like windows video options, but with no video setting below them. Did I edit right one?

And final question: I created this ini file with a test copy of mame I keep on my main hard drive to experiment with. The copy I'm using for launchbox is on an external drive. Can I just copy this ini file over to it or do I need to repeat creating the ini file with the launchbox mame copy? Wondering if certain pathways are created when the ini is created?

Thanks again! Rest of the mame and ini settings I'll gleam from the tutorial.

Edited December 17, 2017 by C64Crazy

[DOS76]

yeah the OSD one is the correct one to edit

[neil9000]

14 minutes ago, C64Crazy said:

I created this ini file with a test copy of mame I keep on my main hard drive to experiment with. The copy I'm using for launchbox is on an external drive. Can I just copy this ini file over to it or do I need to repeat creating the ini file with the launchbox mame copy? Wondering if certain pathways are created when the ini is created?

I would suggest creating it again in your main install just to be safe, but if your games are in the MAME/Roms folder you should be OK just to copy it across.

[C64Crazy]

I recreated the ini to be safe. And here I thought I'd finally be ready to play a few games but nope. Figured I'd launch Mame directly first instead of thru lb to see if all was good. Within Mame interface I set my ROMs path to where all my roms are since they're not in the roms folder. Saved config. Tried to run several games and nothing works. Keep getting missing required rom or chd images. I'm using a 0.185 split ROM pack with the 0.185 emulator and pretty darn sure the ROM pack has all those. Guessing I've got to set more pathways or something? I'll check the tutorial to see if this is addressed. I've only read about creating the ini so far in it.

Edited December 17, 2017 by C64Crazy

[neil9000]

Sounds like your rom path is set wrong, I would double check it in the ui to make sure you set it correctly, you have to physically go into the rom folder before you press tab to set it. Or just type the location into the ini.